Rudolf Serkin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Serkin

Rudolf Serkin (March 28, 1903 – May 8, 1991) was a Bohemian-born pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the twentieth century.

Life and early career

Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Cheb, Czech Republic) to a Russian Jewish family.

Hailed as a child prodigy, he was sent to Vienna at the age of 9, where he studied piano with Richard Robert and, later, composition with Joseph Marx, making his public debut with the Vienna Philharmonic at 12. From 1918 to 1920 he studied composition with Arnold Schoenberg and participated actively in Schoenberg's Society for the Private Performance of Music. He began a regular concert career in 1920, living in Berlin with the German violinist Adolf Busch and his family, which included a then 3-year-old daughter Irene, whom Serkin would marry 15 years later. In the 1920s and early 1930s, Serkin performed throughout Europe both as soloist and with Busch and the Busch Quartet. With the rise of Hitler in Germany in 1933, Serkin and the Busches (who were not Jewish but who vehemently opposed the Nazi regime) left Berlin for Basel, Switzerland.

In 1933 Serkin made his first United States appearance at the Coolidge Festival in Washington, D.C., where he performed with Adolf Busch. In 1936 he launched his solo concert career in the U.S. with the New York Philharmonic under Arturo Toscanini. The critics raved, describing him as "an artist of unusual and impressive talents in possession of a crystalline technique, plenty of power, delicacy, and tonal purity." In 1937, Serkin played his first New York recital at Carnegie Hall.

Immigration to the United States

Shortly after the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Serkins and Busches immigrated to the United States, where Serkin taught several generations of pianists at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. From 1968 to 1976 he served as the Institute's Director. He lived with his growing family first in New York, then in Philadelphia, as well as on a dairy farm in rural Guilford, Vermont. In 1951, Serkin and Adolf Busch founded the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Marlboro, Vermont with the goal of stimulating interest in and performance of chamber music in the United States. He made numerous recordings from the 1940s into the 1980s, including one at RCA Victor of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in 1944, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Toscanini. Most of his recordings were made for Columbia Masterworks, although in the 1980s he also recorded for Deutsche Grammophon and Telarc. Serkin admired the music of Max Reger, which he discovered while working with Adolf Busch. In 1959, he became the first pianist in the United States to record Reger's Piano Concerto, Op. 114, with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Serkin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and in March 1972 celebrated his 100th appearance with the New York Philharmonic by playing Johannes Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1. The orchestra and board of directors also named Serkin an honorary member of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society, a distinction also conferred on Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, and Paul Hindemith. In 1986, he celebrated his 50th anniversary as a guest artist with the orchestra. He is also regarded as one of the primary interpreters of the music of Beethoven in the 20th century.

Revered as a musician's musician, a father figure to a legion of younger players who came to the Marlboro School and Festival, and a pianist of enormous musical integrity, he toured all over the world and continued his solo career and recording activities until illness prevented further work in 1989. He died of cancer on May 8, 1991, aged 88, at home on his Guilford farm.

He and Irene were the parents of seven children (one of whom died in infancy), including pianist Peter Serkin and cellist Judith Serkin. They also had fifteen grandchildren. Irene Busch Serkin died in 1998.

Awards and recognitions

• Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963)
• Ernst von Siemens Music Prize 1978
• Kennedy Center Honors (1981)
• Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance - Mstislav Rostropovich and Rudolf Serkin for Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 and Cello Sonata No. 2 in F, Op. 99 (1984)
• National Medal of Arts (1988)

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Find a grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6691279

רודולף סרקין

' (Rudolf Serkin;‏ 28 במרץ 1903 - 8 במאי 1991) היה פסנתרן יהודי-אוסטרי.

ביוגרפיה רודולף סרקין נולד באגר, בוהמיה (עכשיו צ'ב, צ'כיה) למשפחה יהודית-רוסית. המשפחה עברה לווינה כשרודי היה בן תשע, ושם למד פסנתר אצל ריכרד רוברט וקומפוזיציה אצל יוזף מרקס. רודולף הוכר כילד פלא והופעתו הראשונה בציבור הייתה עם הפילהרמונית של וינה, כשהיה בן 12. הוא החל בקריירת קונצרטים סדירה בשנת 1920 וחי בברלין עם הכנר אדולף בוש ומשפחתו, ביניהם הבת אירנה בת השלוש, שסרקין יישא לאישה כעבור חמש-עשרה שנים. במשך שנות ה-20' וראשית ה-30' הופיע סרקין בכל רחבי אירופה, הן כסולן והן עם אדולף בוש ועם רביעיית בוש. עם עליית היטלר לשלטון עזבה משפחת בוש, יחד עם סרקין, את גרמניה, תחילה לווינה ואחרי הסיפוח, לשווייץ.

בשנת 1935 הופיע סרקין לראשונה בארצות הברית, בפסטיבל קולידג' בוושינגטון הבירה. בשנה שלאחריה, פתח בקריירת קונצרטים כסולן בארצות הברית, עם הפילהרמונית של ניו יורק בניצוח ארטורו טוסקניני. המבקרים התלהבו ותיארו אותו כ"אמן בעל כשרונות יוצאי דופן ומרשימים, טכניקה צלולה כגביש, כוח רב, עדינות ונקיון צלילי." בשנת 1937 ניגן סרקין ברסיטל הראשון שלו בניו יורק, בקרנגי הול.

בשנת 1939, כשראו כי המלחמה ממשמשת ובאה, היגרו בני סרקין ובוש לארצות הברית. סרקין קיבל עליו את משרת מנהל מכון קרטיס למוזיקה בפילדלפיה, שם לימד רבים מטובי הפסנתרנים של ימינו עד 1978. נוסף לבתים בפילדלפיה ובהמשך בניו יורק, רכשה המשפחה המורחבת משק חלב בגילפורד הכפרית, ורמונט, והשתקעה שם. אחרי המלחמה, ייסדו סרקין ואדולף בוש את בית הספר למוזיקה ופסטיבל מרלבורו סמוך לבראטלבורו, ורמונט. בשנים אלה גם הרבה רודולף סרקין בהקלטות עם חברת קולומביה.

סרקין קיבל את מדליית החירות הנשיאותית בשנת 1964 ובמרץ 1972 חגג את הופעתו ה-100 עם הפילהרמונית של ניו יורק בנגינת הקונצ'רטו לפסנתר מס' 1 של ברהמס. כמו כן העניקה התזמורת לסרקין תואר חבר כבוד של אגודת התזמורת הפילהרמונית של ניו יורק, אגודת עלית מוזיקלית, הכוללת את אהרן קופלנד, איגור סטרווינסקי ופאול הינדמית. בשנת 1986 חגג סרקין את יובל החמישים שלו כאמן אורח עם התזמורת.

סרקין זכה להערצת מוזיקאים והיה לדמות אב להמוני הנגנים הצעירים, שבאו אל פסטיבל מרלבורו. הוא סייר ברחבי העולם והמשיך בקריירת הסולו שלו ובהקלטותיו עד שמחלת הסרטן מנעה ממנו את המשך העבודה בשנת 1989. הוא מת מסרטן בחוותו האהובה בגילפורד.

הוא ואירנה היו הורים לשישה ילדים (שאחד מהם מת בינקותו), ביניהם הפסנתרן פיטר סרקין. אירנה בוש סרקין מתה בשנת 1998.

פרסים ואותות הוקרה פרס ארנסט פון סימנס (1978) פרס גראמי על ביצוע מצטיין של מוזיקה קאמרית: מסטיסלב רוסטרופוביץ' ורודלף סרקין על ברהמס: סונאטה לצ'לו ופסנתר במי מינור, אופוס 38 (וסונאטה בפה מז'ור, אופוס 99), 1984 קישורים חיצוניים ויקישיתוף מדיה וקבצים בנושא רודולף סרקין בוויקישיתוף MusicBrainz Logo 2016.svg רודולף סרקין , באתר MusicBrainz (באנגלית) רודולף סרקין , באתר Discogs (באנגלית) IMDB Logo 2016.svg רודולף סרקין , במסד הנתונים הקולנועיים IMDb (באנגלית)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Serkin

Rudolf Serkin (March 28, 1903 – May 8, 1991) was a Bohemian-born pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the twentieth century.

Life and early career

Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Cheb, Czech Republic) to a Russian Jewish family.

Hailed as a child prodigy, he was sent to Vienna at the age of 9, where he studied piano with Richard Robert and, later, composition with Joseph Marx, making his public debut with the Vienna Philharmonic at 12. From 1918 to 1920 he studied composition with Arnold Schoenberg and participated actively in Schoenberg's Society for the Private Performance of Music. He began a regular concert career in 1920, living in Berlin with the German violinist Adolf Busch and his family, which included a then 3-year-old daughter Irene, whom Serkin would marry 15 years later. In the 1920s and early 1930s, Serkin performed throughout Europe both as soloist and with Busch and the Busch Quartet. With the rise of Hitler in Germany in 1933, Serkin and the Busches (who were not Jewish but who vehemently opposed the Nazi regime) left Berlin for Basel, Switzerland.

In 1933 Serkin made his first United States appearance at the Coolidge Festival in Washington, D.C., where he performed with Adolf Busch. In 1936 he launched his solo concert career in the U.S. with the New York Philharmonic under Arturo Toscanini. The critics raved, describing him as "an artist of unusual and impressive talents in possession of a crystalline technique, plenty of power, delicacy, and tonal purity." In 1937, Serkin played his first New York recital at Carnegie Hall.

Immigration to the United States

Shortly after the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Serkins and Busches immigrated to the United States, where Serkin taught several generations of pianists at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. From 1968 to 1976 he served as the Institute's Director. He lived with his growing family first in New York, then in Philadelphia, as well as on a dairy farm in rural Guilford, Vermont. In 1951, Serkin and Adolf Busch founded the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Marlboro, Vermont with the goal of stimulating interest in and performance of chamber music in the United States. He made numerous recordings from the 1940s into the 1980s, including one at RCA Victor of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in 1944, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Toscanini. Most of his recordings were made for Columbia Masterworks, although in the 1980s he also recorded for Deutsche Grammophon and Telarc. Serkin admired the music of Max Reger, which he discovered while working with Adolf Busch. In 1959, he became the first pianist in the United States to record Reger's Piano Concerto, Op. 114, with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Serkin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and in March 1972 celebrated his 100th appearance with the New York Philharmonic by playing Johannes Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1. The orchestra and board of directors also named Serkin an honorary member of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society, a distinction also conferred on Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, and Paul Hindemith. In 1986, he celebrated his 50th anniversary as a guest artist with the orchestra. He is also regarded as one of the primary interpreters of the music of Beethoven in the 20th century.

Revered as a musician's musician, a father figure to a legion of younger players who came to the Marlboro School and Festival, and a pianist of enormous musical integrity, he toured all over the world and continued his solo career and recording activities until illness prevented further work in 1989. He died of cancer on May 8, 1991, aged 88, at home on his Guilford farm.

He and Irene were the parents of seven children (one of whom died in infancy), including pianist Peter Serkin and cellist Judith Serkin. They also had fifteen grandchildren. Irene Busch Serkin died in 1998.

Awards and recognitions

• Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963)
• Ernst von Siemens Music Prize 1978
• Kennedy Center Honors (1981)
• Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance - Mstislav Rostropovich and Rudolf Serkin for Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 and Cello Sonata No. 2 in F, Op. 99 (1984)
• National Medal of Arts (1988)

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Find a grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6691279